Culture Shock Analysis

If someone were to ask me about how I was doing in respect to culture shock, I’d say pretty good. I'm definitely not still in the honeymoon phase, because that lasted three days. I am also not at rock bottom. Although I know that I can’t honestly say that I have recovered either, it is bearable and unnoticeable most of the time. Every once in a while I'll do something and it's obviously culturally different because someone will tell me – in the Dominican, we do it this way. But I am comfortable here. I am still surprised by the great poverty outside of the orphanage gates, but I never want to become blind to need. So, thinking this over, I thought I was doing pretty well. But that's just the problem. I'm doing pretty well, by myself. When I was at rock bottom, of course I depended on God. The days felt like weeks long and I definitely didn't want to try and make it alone. It was common to read twenty chapters of my Bible a day. But right now, my Bible is just sitting on my shelf. Not always. I still carry it with me, but I managed to rearrange my priorities. I can justify it in my mind because for the most part, I'm pretty busy. And I am busy doing things for God right? But here I go again with the thin pages in my hands. Even if I think I can make it through this day, and then I'll get back to him tomorrow, I can't. To me, this was the biggest sign that I was recovering from culture shock. Not my ability to eat all of the food, or the fact that I can remove the cockroach from my toothbrush and still brush my teeth. The fact that I am not as lonely and out of place in this land, that I am able to forget to read my Bible. Everyday I wait for a letter to arrive, but here I have a whole book of them that have all the words I need to hear. I encourage everyone else to try it again too. I'm in Luke if you want to join me. :-)